Links

Salvation is of the Lord

“But I will sacrifice
unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed.
Salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2:9).

Jonah
is a famous prophet. Even our children know him. He was that prophet of Israel
who tried to run away from God. God had sent him to Nineveh to preach to the Assyrians. But Jonah
hated the Assyrians. He refused to go. Instead, he hopped on a boat that was
heading to Tarshish in the opposite direction. God sent a great storm. Jonah
was forced to own up to the pagan sailors that it was because of him that God
sent the storm. He suggested for them to throw him overboard, and they
eventually did.

The storm then ceased; but God
sent a huge fish or a whale to swallow Jonah. I believe it was a whale as
indicated in the King James translation of Matthew 12:40.

Jonah repented of his
rebellious obstinacy. God instructed the whale to spit him out at Nineveh; and he proceeded
to preach to the people. So powerful was the ministry of the Word that there
was national repentance at Nineveh,
much to Jonah’s chagrin.

In the final chapter of the
Book, we see Jonah sulking at the result of his obedience, and God explaining
to him why he wanted him to preach to the Assyrians despite their wickedness.
God’s explanation may best be summed up in the words of Jonah in the key verse
of the book, namely, Jonah 2:9 (above).

Now,
you will realise that the content of this Book is a historical narrative
although it is found amongst the Minor Prophets. In fact, it has only one line of
prophecy in it. And it is part of Jonah’s sermon against Nineveh: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be
overthrown” (Jon 3:4).

What about promises? Well, there are no direct
statements of promise in this Book unless you consider Jonah’s threat against Nineveh as a promise.
However, there is an implied promise which Jonah referred to and rested upon in
his prayer in the whale’s belly. This promise is expressed in the words:
“Salvation is of the LORD” (Jon 2:9).

Let’s
meditate briefly on these words by considering three questions: First, who
needs salvation? Second, how does the LORD save? Thirdly, how shall we respond
to the LORD’s salvation?

1. Who
Needs Salvation?

First
of all, what is salvation? Well, the word ‘salvation’ in our text, comes from
the Hebrew h[;WvyÒ(yeshuah)
which means ‘rescue’, ‘deliver’ or ‘help’.

Someone
is in need of salvation if he falls into a situation of helplessness. If he is
not saved, he will die.

Jonah was in the whale’s belly. He knew
that were it not for the LORD’s intervention, he would be dead. He knew too
that if he were to be delivered from the whale’s belly, it would be entirely by
the LORD’s mercy. “Salvation is of the LORD” he says.

But
Jonah knew that he was not the only one in need of salvation. The fact is: the
Assyrians were much more in need of salvation than him. While Jonah would die
physically, the Assyrians were dead spiritually and would die eternally if left
on their own. This was the reason why the LORD sent him to Nineveh in the first place.

The
Assyrians did not know Jehovah. They trusted in their idols. They were
perishing in sin. “They
that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy” says Jonah (Jon 2:8). That
is to say: “Those who worship false gods,—which are really nothing, but the
wicked imagination of man,—are forfeiting any opportunity of mercy which could
be theirs. They will perish in sin.”

But
of course the Assyrians were not the only ones in need of salvation. The fact
is: All men descending from Adam by natural generation sinned in him and fell
with him. We all fall short of the glory of God and are become children of
God’s wrath. We are dead in sin and trespasses. Left to ourselves, we will live
lives of sin which will end in eternal misery. All men need salvation.

We
need to be saved from our sins and our self-destruction. If you are not
saved,—whether you are young or old,—you are living a life of emptiness and
misery which will end with destruction. Nothing in this world will fill the
void in your heart permanently. Nothing in this world can save you from
destruction today and in eternity. Only the LORD can. “Salvation is of the
LORD.” This is a promise that all who trust in the Lord will experience in this
life and the life to come.

But…

2. How Does the LORD Save?

The LORD
saved Jonah by commanding the whale to swallow him. And he would save Jonah by
commanding the whale to spit him out on dry land. Jonah was saved and would be
saved from physical death by the LORD, using the whale.

What about salvation from spiritual and eternal
death? How does the LORD save sinners from death and destruction? The answer is
found in the words of the angel Gabriel to Joseph regarding Mary—

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou
shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins” (Mt 1:21).

Years later, the Apostle Peter would add:

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for
there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved” (Acts 4:12).

God
would save sinners though Christ Jesus, His only begotten son, whom He would
send to live, suffer and die on behalf of those who were appointed to live.

It is instructive to note that the word translated
‘salvation’ (h[;WvyÒ, yeshuah)
is the word from which we get the name ['vuwhoyÒ (yehoshua) or ‘Joshua’ which is
transliterated as ‘Jesus’ through the Greek New Testament. ‘Jesus’ means
“Jehovah is salvation.”

What
is even more instructive is that in God’s appointment, Jonah would remain three
days in the whale’s belly as a type of Christ to foreshadow the death and
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of His people.

About 800 years after Jonah passed from the
scene, the Lord Jesus was asked by the Scribes and Pharisees for a sign that He
is from God. He replied:

“An evil and adulterous
generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but
the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonas was three days and
three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth” (Mt 12:39-40).

It
turns out that the story of Jonah is not just a curious interlude in the
history of God’s people in the Old Testament. The fact is: the whole episode in
Jonah’s life recorded in this book, panned out as it did, by the sovereign hand
of God, so that the work of mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ,—involving His death
and resurrection,—might be illustrated, foreshadowed and preached to the people
of God even before the fullness of the time.

What is not so clear in the
book of Jonah is made clear in the New Testament. Salvation is of the LORD
through Christ Jesus.

The
Lord Jesus must live, and die, and be buried, and rise again from the dead in
order that He might save His people from their sin.

Jonah
suffered with the sailors in the boat, was buried in the whale’s belly and
almost died because of his sin. The Lord Jesus suffered alone. He suffered
immensely—even to the point of experiencing the pains of hell on the Cross. He
died and He was buried not because He had any sin, but because of the sin of
His people. The wages of sin is death. We cannot save ourselves for all our
righteousness are filthy rags in the sight of a thrice holy God. We cannot save
ourselves from our wickedness and from death any more than the Assyrians could
save themselves.

Christ
had to die to pay for our sins. But thank God that He rose again from the dead.
His sacrifice was accepted.

Because
He lives, we live and shall live. Because His sacrifice was accepted, our sins have
been paid for. We are given spiritual life and eternal life; and one day, our
bodies, being still united to Christ, will also rise from the dead.

This
is the promise of the LORD. Salvation is of the LORD in Christ!

But…

3. How Should we Respond to the LORD’s Salvation?

If
we know that salvation is of the LORD, what should our first response be but to
thank and praise the LORD? Were it not for the LORD, the Ninevites would have
continued in their carnal prosperity and their sin. They would not think about
repentance and their need of salvation.

The
same is true for us. Were it not that the LORD initiated our salvation, we
would never have repented and believe in Him. Salvation is of the LORD.

But now that we know, shall we not praise Him with our
lips and serve Him with gratitude and love with our lives? Those in Nineveh who returned to
their idolatry after being spared from destruction, would no doubt have
perished in their sin. So too any of us who fail to hold fast the beginning of
our faith steadfast unto the end. “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we
hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end” says the Apostle to
the Hebrews (Heb 3:14).

Therefore,
beloved brethren and children, will you not take a hard look at yourself and give
yourself an honest assessment of how you have been living before the face of
the LORD hitherto.

Have
you live for the LORD? Have you sought to glorify God in all your decisions and
in all that you sought to do or to refrain from doing? Or have you indulged in
worldly pleasures and sin? Have you made decisions on whether they make
economic sense rather than spiritual sense? Have you sought first the kingdom of Christ and His righteousness? Or have
you sought first your pleasure and your wealth?

Beloved brethren, youth and children, remember that we
are saved from physical death, spiritual death and eternal death. Eternal life
is not just a life never-ending. It is a life of fellowship with God, lived in
the freedom that the Spirit and Word of God affords.

If
therefore, you are still living a worldly and sensual life without regard to
holiness, will you not repent of your sins and seek the Lord’s mercy? Do not
continue in sin thinking that you are saved. No, no; the Ninevites repented in
dust and ashes and were spared God’s wrath. Let us not assume that we can
continue status quo in ungodliness and be spared God’s wrath.

Young
people and children, take heed! Some of you are heading the path of
destruction. Unless you repent and truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
follow hard after the Lord Jesus Christ, you will perish.

Conclusion

Salvation is of the LORD! It is the LORD who
will bless and preserve us. But let us remember that our enjoyment of Him will
depend very much on how we respond to His mercy and grace bestowed upon us in
Christ through all the changing scenes of life. Amen. Ω